Winning the Winter, part 8

Most of baseball took this past week off, so I did the same. Time to start making up for it with a lightning round.

12/7: Marlins sign IF Rafael Furcal, 1 year, $3.5M. Any new position players the Marlins bring in can't hurt. While Furcal no longer gets enough extra-base hits to be considered an upgrade for most teams, and while it remains to be seen if he can handle a position change this late in his career, he's probably better than Donovan Solano. Maybe only by a little.

12/7: Astros sign RP Chad Qualls, 2 years, $5.95M. The 'stros have made a few additions to the big league club this winter, but I'm not sure any of them are really upgrades. Signing a replaceable right-handed reliever like Qualls is one such move. Maybe his presence lifts them from a 60-win season to a 61-win season.

12/7: Red Sox sign RP Edward Mujica, 2 years, $9.5M. Mujica is a step up from replaceable reliever, but his home run and K rates are cause for concern going to the AL East and Fenway Park. Could be another misstep from the GM who brought you Andrew Bailey, Joel Hanrahan, and others. Then again, none of those guys had an awesome nickname like "Chief". Also, said GM presided over the 2013 World Series champions. So, again, there's a nonzero chance he knows his business better than I do.

12/8: Mets sign Curtis Granderson, 4 years, $60M. This is one of my favorite moves of the winter. Not an overly long contract (Granderson will play next year at age 33) at about the going rate for a power hitter, and it fills a position where the Mets had a real need. Consistent power and durability mean there's every reason to believe Granderson is going to be an asset in the field and at the plate for at least half this contract. Also- you're saved, Mets fans. No more Jordanny Valdespin. Granderson and Chris Young are a murderer's row compared to what they've been running out there in recent years.

12/10: Marlins sign 1B/OF Garrett Jones, 2 years, $7.75M. He's got some power, but he strikes out too much and he's not regarded as a good defensive player anywhere. The Marlins already had a guy just like that, except Logan Morrison is still young enough to hope for some improvement. Whoops. The Marlins' whole first baseman shuffle got them nowhere in their quest for a major league-caliber offense.

12/10: Rockies acquire SP Brett Anderson from A's for SP Drew Pomeranz and SP prospect Chris Jensen. A salary dump by Oakland, but with some upside coming back. Jensen was old for his league in 2013 and may not even be a prospect, but his peripherals were nice last season. Pomeranz, 25, found himself demoted to AA last year but injuries haven't completely ruined his promise. Anderson is also 25 and injury-prone, but he's got a major league track record and a contract that was reasonable when the A's gave it to him. This could be nothing-for-nothing, but I'll always take the upside on strikeout pitchers leaving the Rockies organization.

12/10: White Sox trade SP Hector Santiago to Diamondbacks for OF Adam Eaton. Diamondbacks trade Santiago and SP Tyler Skaggs to Angels for IF/OF Mark Trumbo. This is going to be a fun one to look back on in five years. Just to make a snap judgement, I like it for the Angels the most, because they got two pre-arbitration arms that could quite easily make their rotation. The Sox also did well, because Santiago's sub-4 ERA in 2013 had some fluky indicators and they potentially solved their perennial CF hole with Eaton. The Diamondback paid through the nose for power hitting, simple as that. Trumbo looks to be heading into Adam Dunn territory when it comes to swinging and missing, and it's going to take a lot of homers to make up for poor OBP's and bad defense. It's not Myers-for-Shields bad, but unless Kevin Towers hits upon the magical combination of grit and clubhouse chemistry that leads to the postseason, moves like this one should threaten his job security.

12/11: Mariners sign 1B/OF Corey Hart, 1 year, $6M. Hart's coming off two knee surgeries and heads to a place where 1B/DH types are plentiful and home runs go to die. I recommend nihilism for any Mariners fans who happen to read this. It'll make everything that's yet to come so much easier.

12/11: Pirates sign SP Edinson Volquez, 1 year, $5M. If Pirates fans are hoping this works out like the Liriano signing, well, I hope they continue to hope. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. Even if I find it sorely misplaced in this situation. Unless ownership's ready to give the payroll a permanent boost- and I don't see it happening- deals like this represent all kinds of missed opportunities. Someone else could be taking those starts and making that money, and whoever those someone elses could be, they're probably better at baseball than Volquez.

12/11: Pirates re-sign SP Charlie Morton, 3 years, $27M. Morton, for example, is better than Volquez. It's an unexciting sign for the Pirates, and given that 2013 was a career year for Morton in almost all categories, it's reasonable to expect a backslide. But he's only getting paid to be average, and while that's his ceiling, it's not an unrealistic one.

12/11: A's trade RP Jerry Blevins to Nationals for OF prospect Billy Burns. The A's get a speedy outfield prospect with plate discipline, and the Nats get a 30-year-old lefty reliever. I like it for the A's, but as a win-now move it's okay for the Nats. They're going to have Harper, Span, and Werth until half past forever anyway.

12/11: Tigers sign OF Rajai Davis, 2 years, $10M. This was not the move Tigers fans were anticipating when Dave Dombrowski traded away Fielder and Fister and cleared payroll space. Nothing wrong with having a decent defensive fourth outfielder, but it's hard to believe the Tigers are done making moves.